Xgl

I just installed XGL with copiz WM on my computer today. All I can say is: wow! It has shadows, transparency, wobble, the desktops are on the surface of a cube.... The Linux desktop is really gaining the eyecandy on the Mac and surpassing Windows. If you wanna see a demo or if you don't run Linux, check out the video: http://www.freedesktop.org/~davidr/xgl-demo1.xvid.avi

I tried it out, but just couldn't live with my WM eating 10-15% of my CPU no matter how good it looks.

I find KDE with pretty things turned off a good compromise.

Maybe XGL is better now, but when I tried it (Jan-Feb, I think) it wasn't slow, just wasn't snappy either.

As eye candy however, to try and get those people who will be annoyed with XP, activation and resource requirements, it is the best thing out there for linux or *nix for that matter.

It runs alot better now (I assume), I actually find it takes around the same CPU time while dragging windows around as it did before. I guess this is because it is all running in GL . You also don't have to have all the features enabled.

EDIT: I take that last statement back. compiz actually performs better and uses less CPU than the normal metacity or kwin. It is true that some java programs do not run correctly, but most of the Java programs _I_ run work great. If I need to use one of those java progs then I just create a windowed X session and run it inside of that. The program is only 0.0.9ish right now..

I run XGL with compiz on my laptop (1.6 Pentium M, 512MB, 128MB ATI x300) and it runs great. It required a few tweaks to get it stable for my graphics card, but i love it. It makes the linux desktop fun to use. I think it feels more responsive than the stock ubuntu install i had before, but not really a significant difference. On my desktop (Athlon 64 3700, 1GB, 256MB nvidia 6800) its silky smooth.

There are still some problems with it though, some java apps dont display correctly, and some games that use openGl dont run well.

xgl would be sick in a carputer. i'm going to start putting my new one together today. i'm torn between going with flux + rox or running gnome so i can have xgl...

Now, if you wanna go the Car pC route, this is the right forum for you. You can surf gay porn, listen to all your copywright infringed music and use GPS to find your way from one end of the driveway to the other -J187